Review: Prisma Gorgon (U29.3.2)

The Prisma Gorgon is an MR11 Spool-Up Rifle available only from Baro Ki'Teer. With very strong Crit and a high RoF, it trades poor usability for impressive firepower. It also faces rather stiff competition from the many other strong Primaries.

Acquisition

The Prisma Gorgon is occasionally available from Baro Ki'Teer.

Stats

Immediately obvious is the Prisma Gorgon's very strong Crit stats, which combine with a rather high Fire Rate for overall great Burst DPS. A solid Status Chance of 15% means that it can still inflict a good number of Status procs too. Unfortunately, a majority base Impact damage means you'll be relying on elemental mods and Hunter Munitions for useful procs.

 

A Mag Capacity of 120 is quite large, however with a high Fire Rate of 14.17 and fairly long Reload Time of 3 seconds, the PGorgon has Reload Ratio of only 2.82 - quite low compared to many of its competitors. It also has a fairly long Spool-Up time, needing to fire 12 rounds to reach maximum RoF.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma:

The Prisma Gorgon is yet another one of those weapons with no innate polarities. As a result, even a basic build will struggle a little to fit in if your mods are all max rank. This above build replaces what would normally be Split Chamber with Vigilante Armaments, to save on mod space. This allows space for two elemental mods, though at least one of them will need to be a 60/60. This is at least enough to get a reasonable feel for the PGorgon and whether it is worth further investment.

As usual, Viral is my recommended all-rounder element. It has the most universally useful proc, and has some useful damage multipliers. Corrosive is the second best, with an excellent anti-armour proc (which is useless against unarmoured enemies), and strong multipliers against Ferrite-armour and most heavier Infested units. Pure Toxin is a very strong option against unarmoured Corpus units, as it and its proc bypass their Shields entirely. Radiation is worth a mention against inorganic or Viral-proc-immune enemies who are Alloy-armoured.

Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything; Corrosive vs Ferrite-armour, Infested; Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus

2-Forma:

Two added V polarities allows you to comfortably slot in Split Chamber, with space for a seventh mod. Again there is still some space to have one 90% elemental. The seventh mod slot opens up a few notable options - Hunter Munitions and three-element combinations.

As the Prisma Gorgon is majority-Impact and is more focused on Crit than Status Chance, Hunter Munitions is a perfect fit on it. With HM, the PGorgon can reliably and repeatedly inflict brutal Slash procs on enemies. This is most notable on heavily armoured enemies, as Slash proc damage ignores armour entirely. At very high levels, Viral + Slash procs tends to be the best option against armoured enemies.

There are a few triple-element setups worth mentioning. Viral + Heat retains all the benefits of Viral, with Heat procs offering partial armour reduction, as well as stacking damage-over-time. It is more effective on a weapon with higher Status Chance, but still works well on the PGorgon if you favour more direct damage over the Slash procs from HM. 

Corrosive + Heat has a more extreme anti-armour focus, while also being highly effective against the Infested. In particular, it is by far the best setup against the Deimos Infested, many of whom are immune to Viral procs. Radiation + Toxin is a strong catch-all against the Corpus, the former being super effective against their Alloy-armour, and the latter being highly effective against anything unarmoured.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + (HM/Heat) vs everything; Corrosive + Heat vs Ferrite-armour, Infested; Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus

4-Forma:

Another two added V polarities offers you comfortable use of all eight mod slots, provided you have all the appropriate 60/60 mods, and depending on your choice for the last mods. As usual, Vigilante Armaments is a no-fuss Multishot boost, Heavy Caliber is a large Damage boost with an accuracy penalty, and Shred increases Fire Rate and adds invaluable Punch-Through. As a Crit-heavy weapon, naturally Argon Scope and Bladed Rounds are also effective. If the high Fire Rate is problematic, Critical Delay is an option to reduce RoF while also increasing Crit Chance - do note however that the overall DPS will be significantly reduced.

Thanks to the Prisma Gorgon's high Fire Rate, poor accuracy, and Recoil, there is no shortage of good options for the Exilus slot. An Ammo Mutation mod like Vigilante Supplies addresses ammo concerns (with Vigi Supplies also slightly contributing to DPS), while Stabilizer significantly reduces recoil. There are a few Accuracy improving options, though both are conditional - Guided Ordnance and Gun Glide (which also improves recoil). Finally, Vile Precision massively reduces recoil while also reducing Fire Rate for better control, however this significantly reduces DPS.

 

Recommended Setups: see above.

6-Forma:

Finally, two more Forma gives you many mod options to consider, such as switching the two elemental mods for 90%s for more raw damage. Primed Cryo Rounds is a notable option that will require the extra polarity to accomodate. The polarities you install with these Forma will be decided by which mods you intend to use, and may not be necessary if you are happy to stick to the 60/60 elements.

Recommended Setups: see above.

My Builds

My default build is a Viral + HM one, optimised for use against heavily armoured enemies.

This alternate Corrosive one deals better direct damage to Ferrite-armoured or Viral-immune enemies, like Lephantis/Hemocyte.

This Viral + Electric build is kind of there just to use the third config, optimal against unarmoured Corpus.

Combat Use and Summary

The Prisma Gorgon is a Crit-focused bullet hose weapon, so with the right setups, handles quite well against most targets. High capacity and Fire Rate allow it to work through large groups of weak enemies quite quickly, especially with Punch-Through. Its Reload Ratio is a little low compared to most other Full-Auto/Spool-Up Rifles however, so it spends more time reloading than most of its competitors.

Great Crit for overall very good Burst DPS also makes the PGorgon quite effective against unarmoured and Status-immune single targets. Without Hunter Munitions, it is perhaps weakest against heavily armoured enemies, as its Status Chance is not amazing, and it has very little Slash bias. Though it can stack up Viral or Corrosive procs reasonably quickly, it is not so adept at inflicting Heat or Slash procs. Short of the Steel Path and endurance runs though, the PGorgon deals a hefty amount of direct damage that eats through most enemies quite quickly. Add in Hunter Munitions and even heavily armoured SP enemies can be eaten through with sustained fire.

 

High recoil, poor accuracy and poor ammo efficiency are all notable flaws. The former two make longer ranged engagements much harder and less efficient, while the latter is troublesome in longer missions. The weapon Exilus slot can of course be used to counteract one of these, while Ammo Case/Scavenger/etc on other equipment can counter the last. Perhaps the easiest way to improve all three at once is to reduce Fire Rate using a mod like Critical Delay or Vile Precision, however this of course comes at the cost of DPS.

 

Overall, the Prisma Gorgon is a powerful Spool-Up Rifle. It deals great direct damage, inflicts a reasonable amount of Status, and can rapidly stack up Slash procs with Hunter Munitions. It has several flaws in usability, and faces stiff competition from the plethora of other Spool-Up and Full-Auto Rifles. If you enjoy fast-firing, Crit-heavy weapons, the Prisma Gorgon is one of many solid options to pursue. If you struggle with recoil or highly value accuracy though, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - High Fire Rate and large Mag Capacity allow the Prisma Gorgon to rip through large groups relatively easily. Its Reload Ratio is surprisingly low for the type of weapon, and it spends much more time reloading than most comparable weapons.

Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - High Crit and Fire Rate for overall quite good Burst DPS make the PGorgon quite effective against unarmoured or Status-immune enemies.

Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 3.5/5 - Almost no Slash damage and decent but not amazing Status Chance mean that the PGorgon is not amazing against heavily armoured enemies. It can stack up Viral or Corrosive procs relatively quickly, but struggles to take full advantage of them with Slash or Heat procs.

Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - Very high Crit Chance allows the PGorgon to inflict powerful Slash procs via HM frequently. Combined with Viral stacks, these Slash procs can rapidly eat through heavily armoured, Status-vulnerable enemies.

Vs Variants

There are three versions of the Gorgon currently in-game: the regular Gorgon, the Gorgon Wraith, and the Prisma Gorgon.

As you might expect, the MR3 Gorgon is not worth seriously comparing. It has a slightly higher base Damage, but otherwise falls far behind the Prisma or even the Wraith.

The MR7 Gorgon Wraith is largely better, but again still really struggles compared to the Prisma. The Wraith notably has a higher Status Chance (21% vs 15%) and slightly higher base Damage, but falls far behind for overall damage output as its Crit is far worse. The Prisma's superior firepower, as well as its other stat increases, easily outweigh the Wraith's higher Status Chance.

Competitors

There are a number of other Crit-focused Full-Auto Rifles that the Prisma Gorgon must compete against, as well as a few other strong Spool-Up Rifles.

 

The Supra Vandal is the highest MR Spool-Up Rifle, at MR14, however it is Status-focused so present a poor comparison. The MR10 Tenora is a much better direct comparison point. Immediately obvious is that the PGorgon sports more damage-per-shot as well as DPS thanks to its superior Crit and higher RoF, with comparable Status. However, the Tenora has a far better Reload Ratio thanks to its larger Mag Capacity, shorter Reload Time and lower RoF. Additionally it has great accuracy and almost no recoil when spooled-up, while the PGorgon has very heavy recoil and poor accuracy. The Tenora's Alternate Fire also offers a very high damage shot.

As for Full-Auto Rifles more generally, here is just a selection of weapons I felt were worth highlighting and comparing to. Compared to the Amprex, the PGorgon has slightly superior Burst DPS thanks to its RoF and is not limited to close range, but the Amprex is superior in just about every other respect thanks to its higher Status Chance and chaining mechanic. The Baza Prime has comparable firepower, superior Reload Ratio, barely any recoil and much better accuracy, but has damage fall-off beyond close range. The Prisma Grakata is even faster firing for much superior Status capabilities, but of course this makes it even less ammo-efficient.

A Rattleguts Primary can be made roughly comparable to the PGorgon Crit-wise, however its Status Chance will suffer as a result. If made to have comparable Status, naturally its Crit will be much worse. The Stradavar Prime's Full-Auto is unquestionably weaker for Burst DPS, but its Reload Ratio is much better, and it is more accurate and recoils much less. The Telos Boltor is a lot slower firing for again lower Burst DPS, but again its Reload Ratio, accuracy and recoil are all much better.

To summarise, the Prisma Gorgon is among the best conventional Full-Auto Rifles for Burst DPS, however faces much stiffer competition when usability is considered.

Rivens

The Prisma Gorgon has a rather high 4/5 (1.3) Riven Disposition, with the Wraith (5/5, 1.35) and regular Gorgon (5/5, 1.4) being slightly higher. I am honestly a little surprised that the Prisma is so high up, as it is quite a powerful weapon. For the sake of my own Riven though, I'm certainly not complaining.

As always, +Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all great damage multipliers. +Elemental Damage can be useful for saving a mod slot. +Faction Damage is a great multiplier for damage-over-time procs like Slash and Heat, though of the three, is only really relevant against Grineer. +Mag Capacity/Reload Speed both improve Reload Ratio significantly. -Recoil eliminates one of the PGorgon's main flaws. +Punch-Through is a great help against crowds.

-Impact/Puncture/Slash are all useful. The latter two are minimal components of the Gorgon family's base damages, and while the former is significant, it is still a rubbish damage type and proc anyway. The boost to the Riven's other stats is well worth the loss of any of these components. -Faction Damage to a weaker faction (Infested is generally best) is quite manageable. -Fire Rate improves ammo efficiency, and reduces recoil and spread growth, but also significantly reduces DPS. -Ammo Max is manageable provided you have at least one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. -Projectile SPeed has no effect. +Recoil is only good if you handle recoil well, as the PGorgon already kicks quite hard. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters.